Crime Type - Mass Murder

Nikolas Jacob Cruz became one of the most notorious mass killers in modern American history after carrying out the February 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, Cruz murdered 17 students and staff members and wounded 17 others before fleeing the campus, making it one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history. The massacre shocked the world and sparked an unprecedented movement led by student survivors demanding stronger gun laws and improved school safety. Cruz's history of behavioral problems, mental health concerns, online threats, and numerous contacts with law enforcement became central to public debate following the attack. The shooting permanently changed the national conversation surrounding school violence and mass shootings.

Charles Whitman was an American mass murderer responsible for the 1966 University of Texas tower shooting in Austin. Prior to the attack, he killed members of his family before carrying out a public shooting that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries. The incident became one of the earliest widely documented mass shootings in modern U.S. history. Whitman was killed by police during the attack, ending the event.